Stuck In A Moment
by Gloredhel
Summary: Rafe and little Danny...short but sweet. Danny Jr. is a teenager...they go to watch the sunset and Rafe tells him something important.


**A/N:** Hey everybody…here's my first PH fic in a loooooong while. This time I'm not adding any characters. It's basically just Rafe, reminiscing about things in his life, Danny, Evelyn, and little Danny. It's kind of short. If you want me to bring back some Susie stories, I'd be glad to (if anybody even _remembers_ the Susie stories!), those tend to be my best works. Well, enjoy. I hope it's good, please read and review.

**Disclaimer:** Anything that you recognize from the movie is not mine.

                                                            **Stuck In A Moment**

****

            Rafe sat on the hill, looking up at the array of colors spread across the sky. His lean body stretched backwards, supported by his elbows, and his sun-bleached brown hair glistened in the days few remaining beams. The boy next to him could not have been more than sixteen years old; a tall, skinny boy with deep brown eyes and thick, wispy brown hair. His name was Danny.

            A lone crop duster grazed the clouds in the distance, its motor humming a song of enchantment into the evening air.

            "You know why I brought ya up here, Danny?" Rafe asked with a sly smile.

            "I dunno," Danny shrugged. "You had to tell me somethin', I know that."

            "Well, lemme ask you a question." He paused, taking in a deep breath and relishing the fresh Tennessee air. "Do you know anything about your real daddy?"

            "I don't wanna talk 'bout this…_you're_ my real daddy. I never met Danny. So he's really not my father."

            Danny's eyes grew larger as he realized that there was no escape from this discussion.

            "You should be proud that he fathered you. He was a great man, and a great friend."

            "Oh yea, an excellent friend. He slept with your girl. That's honorable as all hell."

            "Get some respect, boy!" Rafe bellowed. He thought for a moment, calming himself down. He was just a child, really. "There's lots you don't know about him. He saved my life. He helped me shoot down the Japs. He was the one person who understood me better 'an anybody else."

            Danny looked down at his bare grass-stained feet and sighed.

            "What did he look like?" he asked meekly.

            "Well…like _you_." Rafe reached into his pocket and pulled out a small folded piece of paper. "Look at it," he said gently as he handed it to his son.

            Danny slowly opened the paper and was surprised at what he saw. A young man smiled back at him from the black and white photograph. The man's deep-set eyes sparkled in the sun and his hair was blown across his eyes by the wind. Dog tags hung around his sturdy neck. His grin was large and heartfelt, right down to the small gap in his front teeth.

            "He…he does look like me." Danny looked up at the sky. "Did he even care about me though?"

            Rafe felt his stomach clench. 

            "He didn't know about you until a moment before his death. But the look…the look in his eyes, well, he cared plenty. He told me to take care of you like you were my own. An dammit I did, but you should love him, too."

            Danny looked at the grass, flicking an ant off of a tall blade.

            "I'm goin' inside now," Rafe said, patting his son on the back. "Your sister needs to be tucked in. But think about what I said, alright?"

            The boy nodded, staring off into the distance.

Later that night… 

            Rafe and Evelyn sat in their kitchen, playing a game of Gin Rummy. 

            "Where's Danny?" Evelyn asked, picking up a card from the deck in the middle.

            "Damned if I know," Rafe replied with slight concern, standing up and stretching. "He's probably still outside."

            He slowly walked to screen door and looked out.

            Danny was at the grave laying down a flower.

            "Hey Dad," Rafe heard him say quietly.

            "He's just talking to someone," he told Evelyn when he was back in the kitchen.            

            "Who?" she asked, confused.

            "Just an old friend." He looked out the window and smiled, a tear rolling down his cheek.

            "An old friend."


End file.
